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“I’m sorry,” I say.

He blinks hard. “After the funeral, I found a mask in one of the boxes of her stuff, with a robe folded up under it. She never said anything to me about any of it, but there was a symbol stitched into the collar.” He glances at me. “It took me months to find something about it, and it pointed straight at this college.”

“So you came here because of her.”

“Only for her.” He stares down at his hands. “I got in, and then I became the member of the society, because it was the only way to get near anything they keep. I thought if I climbed high enough in the ranks, I’d get access to the old files.”

I want to be furious with him because he didn’t tell me any of this right away, but I can’t seem to manage it right now, because if I were in his place, I probably wouldn’t have trusted anyone with this info.

“But I think Supreme knows why I’m here or at least that I’m after something,” he says. “Maybe he’s always known because he’s been one step ahead of me from the beginning, and I don’t believe that’s luck. But it doesn’t make sense, because there’s nothing linking Elsie and me. We were kids, and it was before either of us had anything online, so anyone digging around wouldn’t find anything. Unless they had access to her phone or she told someone about me, which I thought was impossible, but maybe I was wrong. I figured they’d tell me right away, but they could’ve just been playing it smart. Or they just don’t trust me because they think I’m after the society’s members’ info for my own gain. I guess that’s also possible.”

I bite the inside of my cheek. He’s definitely not faking this, because he’d have to be the best actor ever, and I’ve watched him lie plenty of times by now. Sure, before, I thought it was the truth, but when I thought back about it, I figured there were some telltales. Now, I don’t think he’s faking it, since I don’t see any of them.

“I’m sorry about your presentation,” he says. “It was me. They gave me an order and I did it, and then I let you think you were losing your mind.”

“I figured it out already.” I swallow hard. “The photos with the timestamps were a nice touch, by the way, but you used the tunnels, so none of it mattered, and I didn’t know.”

“Yeah.” He grimaces. “I knew you wouldn’t be able to argue against that.”

“What does the society want from me?” I shift in my chair. “Why me? You’ve been one of them since last year, so you must have heard something.”

“Nothing. And I’ve been asking myself the same since the start, because it doesn’t make any sense to me either.” He spreads his hands. “People get picked because their parent owns something, or because they’re charismatic enough that others follow them easily, or because someone in their family has influence, or there’s some kind of potential in the future for something big. I’ve watched them lose interest in people with far more to offer, and they’ve never gone after anyone as hard as they’re going after you.”

“They haven’t stopped either.”

“No. And they’re not going to.”

“Yeah, I figured.”

He lets out a short breath. “I’m out, by the way. After what I did to Braxton, it’s over for me. And whatever I was going to find out about Elsie... It’s impossible.”

“Then what are you doing here?”

“Being stubborn.” The corner of his mouth curves. “There’s nothing in these, you know. I’ve looked.”

“You said that last time and then I found out about the tunnels.”

“Right.” His face goes serious again. “Look, you need to get away from this place. Transfer somewhere, or do whatever it takes. They’re probably not going to lose interest and things will only get worse.”

“What about you?”

His lips pull into a smile that doesn’t reach his eyes. “I’ll keep them busy. If they’re worrying about me, they won’t be thinking about where you went. You’ll just disappear and find a better college, and it’s not like this one is anything special.”

“But I want to know the truth.” I curl my fingers. “About my family, why they picked me... All of it. If I go now, I’ll never find out.”

“So do I.” His gaze meets mine. “But I’m not letting anything happen to you.”

“Why?”

“Because I’m in love with you.” His gaze meets mine.

I gape at him. There’s a whole speech somewhere in my head about how he lied to me and how I’ll never trust him again, but my mouth just keeps opening and closing.

“It’s okay,” he says. “You don’t have to say anything or do anything at all, and I’m not asking you for anything. I know what I did and exactly what I am. Just be safe.”

I stare at him, barely blinking. He slides one of the yearbooks toward himself and opens it as if he hadn’t said anything.

I should send him away, but there’s a mountain of books on the table and it’ll go faster with two of us, so I focus back on my page, and I so don’t want to obsess over what he just told me.